Does this pet opossum look cute to you? I think so, but I had to clear my mind of the more familiar image of one baring its teeth at me from a tree branch or lying dead in the road. His name is JJ. -via The Daily What

She didn't say she was afraid of an opossum baring its teeth at her. She was saying that the images of baring their teeth, or lying dead and rotting in the road is a barrier to automatically thinking of them as cute. At least where I live, a lot of people tend to think of possum as disgusting, etc., much like many people think of rats.